Knife and sheath with latch unit



Nov. 11, 1958 'M. FQMOQUEARY KNIFE AND SHEATH WITH LATCHUNIT Filed July 15, 1957 M? M w ATTORNEY United This invention relates to a novel construction of latch unit for latching a knife in a sheath or scabbard and provides a means whereby the knife can be unlatched and removed from the scabbard as quickly as this can be accomplished where no latching means is provided, and which latch structure will positively prevent accidental removal of the knife from the scabbard.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch unit which is so constructed and arranged with respect to the knife and scabbard that unlatching and removal of the knife can be accomplished by a single extracting motion of the knife effected by grasping the knife handle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a latch structure which functions in conjunction with a portion of the knife handle to automatically latch the knife in the scabbard, as the knife is fully applied to the scabbard, and wherein the locking of the knife in the scabbard is audibly indicated by a distinct click sound.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a latch which will reduce to a minimum the possibility of a knife being accidentally removed from its sheath to thus prevent loss of the knife and also the possibility of injury to a person carrying the knife and which frequently occurs where a knife becomes accidentally dislodged from a sheath.

A further object of the invention is to provide a latch structure which can be utilized with a knife the handle of which snugly fits the open upper end of the sheath to act as a seal to exclude dirt, moisture and other foreign matter from the sheath, While the knife is applied thereto.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will. hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view looking toward the inner side of the knife and sheath and toward the latch unit;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, partly in elevation, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2+2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross sectional View, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view looking toward a portion of the inner side of the sheath or scabbard.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, 5 designates generally a knife of the type used by sportsmen, and 6 designates generally a sheath or scabbard for the knife 5. The knife 5 includes a handle 7 and a blade 8 which is secured to and projects from the tapered inner end 9 of said handle.

The sheath 6 is preferably formed of a substantially rigid material, such as a molded plastic, wood, metal or other suitable material, and includes an inner wall 10 and an outer wall 11. The sheath 6 is preferably provided with a small drainage opening 12 in the bottom thereof and has a relatively large open upper end 13 which is substantially sealed by a part of the handle 7 when the knife 5 is applied to the sheath 6, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

A strip of spring metal, designated generally 14, has a lower portion 15 which is secured to and preferably embedded in a part of the rear wall 10 and longitudinally thereof, as seen at 16 in Figure 2. A rigid band or ring 17 is secured around a portion of the sheath 6 and engages tightly around the upper end of the lower part 15 of the strip 14. Said strip 14 has an upper portion 18 forming a leaf spring which extends from the band 17 to above the open upper end 13 of the sheath and which is spring biased against the upper portion of the rear wall it? and is capable of yielding away from said rear wall, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2. The upper end of the leaf spring 18 is provided with a transversely disposed tubular portion 19 in which the intermediate portion of a pin 20 is disposed. The end portions of the pin 29 engage aligned barrel portions 21 of a hinge leaf 22, which barrel portions 21 straddle the tubular portion 19. The ends of a strap are securedto the hinge leaf 22 by a rivet 23 to form a belt loop 24 which projects upwardly or outwardly from the leaf 22. Said belt loop 24 is preferably formed of a flexible material such as leather and the hinge leaf 22 may also be formed of leather. The pin 20 preferably turnably fits in the tube 19 and permits swinging of the leaf 22 and belt loop 24 relative to the leaf spring 18.

A bail-shaped latch element 25 includes an intermediate portion 26 and substantially parallel legs 27. The terminals of the legs 27 preferably merge integral with side edge portions of the leaf spring 18. The rear wall it near the upper end 13 of the sheath, is provided with a transversely disposed elongated opening 28 through which the latch element 25 projects into the interior of the upper portion of the sheath 6. The handle 7 of the knife includes an inner side 29 which is provided with a transversely disposed elongated groove 30, located adjacent to but spaced from the tapered inner handle end 9, and which is disposed in alignment with the opening 28 when the knife 5 is fully inserted in the sheath 6. The shape of the blade 8 and the lower portion of the sheath 6 permits the knife 5 only to be inserted in the sheath 6 with the inner side 29 of the knife handle facing toward the rear wall 10 of the sheath. The inner side 29 includes a tapered inner end portion 29a forming a part of the inner handle end 9 which serves as a cam for retracting the latch element 25 outwardly of the sheath 6, as the knife 5 is inserted into said sheath. A strip of metal 31 is secured against and embedded in the inner side of the upper portion of the rear wall 10 and longitudinally thereof. Said strip 31 has an outwardly turned back upper end portion forming a hook 32 which engages over and is embedded in a portion of the upper edge of the rear wall 10. The strip 31 extends downwardly across the opening 28 and is of a width less than the length of said opening and is disposed with its side edges spaced from the ends of the opening 28, as seen in Figure 4. The strip 31 has an outwardly ofiset portion 33 which is offset outwardly into the opening 28, as seen in Figures 2 and 3. The legs 27 of the latch element 25 extend through end portions .of the opening 28 and straddle the outwardly offset portion 33.

Assuming that the sheath 6 is supported by a waist encircling belt which extends through the loop 24, so that said sheath is suspended therebeneath with the inner wall 10 thereof next to the leg of the wearer, it will be readily apparent that the knife handle 7 can be grasped and pulled outwardly and upwardly in a normal single motion for removing the knife from the sheath 6. When '3 this occurs, the upper portion of the sheath 6 will be thus moved outwardly and away from the belt loop 24 to cause the spring 18 to be flexed away from the inner sheath wall 16 as seen in dotted lines in Figures 2 and 3, so that the latch element 25 will be extracted from the keeper recess 30 of the handle, to thus unlatch and release the knife so that it can be readily removed. As the knife is removed from the sheath 6 the sheath will return to a position against the leaf spring 18, as shown in full lines in Figure 2. The knife 5 is replaced in the sheath in a conventional manner. As the inner end 9 of the handle enters the open end 13 of the sheath the tapered lower end 29a of the inner side of the handle 7 will engage the latch portion 26 to effect a camming movement of the latch 25 outwardly of the sheath 6 or a movement of the upper portion of the sheath 6 outwardly with respect to the latch 25 and spring 13 so that the spring and latch will assume their dotted line po-' sitions as seen in Figure 2 relative to the sheath 6 to allow the handle to slide down into the sheath. As the knife reaches a fully inserted position in the sheath 6, the keeper recess 30 assumes a position in alignment with the opening 28 whereupon the spring 18 is biased toward the sheath 6 or the upper portion of the sheath is spring urged toward the spring 18 so that the latch element 25 enters the recess 31} to latch the knife immovably in the sheath. This is accomplished with a clicking sound to audibly indicate latching of the knife in the sheath. It will also be apparent that the latch means as disclosed permits use of a knife handle 7 which fits snugly in the open upper end 13 of the sheath 6 so that moisture, dirt and other foreign matter will be excluded from the sheath while the knife is applied thereto.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A combination knife, sheath and latch comprising a knife including a handle having an inner end and a blade extending from said inner handle end, a sheath for receiving said blade and the inner handle end, said sheath having an inner wall, a spring strip having a lower end secured against an outer side of said inner wall, said spring strip extending upwardly from its secured end and having an unsecured upper portion normally spring biased against the outer side of said inner wall, said inner wall being provided with an opening in the part thereof engaged by the unsecured upper portion of the spring strip, said handle having a keeper recess spaced from the inner end of the handle and formed in a portion of the side thereof facing said inner wall and disposed in alignment with the opening when the knife is in a fully inserted position in the sheath, and a latch carried by and projecting from a part of the unsecured upper portion of said spring strip inwardly through the opening and disposed in the keeper recess, when said upper portion of the spring strip is disposed against the upper portion of the inner wall of the sheath, for latching the knife in the sheath, the upper portion of the sheath being displaceable away from the upper portion of the spring strip for extracting the latch from the keeper recess to release the knife for removal from the sheath.

2. A knife, sheath and latch combination as in claim 1, the inner end of said knife handle having a tapered portion defining a cam surface disposed on the same side of the knife handle as the keeper recess for engaging and camming the latch to a retracted position as the knife is inserted intothe sheath to permit insertion of the knife into the sheath and for automatic latching of the knife therein when the keeper recess aligns with the latch and said opening.

3. A knife, sheath and latch combination as in claim 1, said latch comprising a bail element having spaced substantially parallel legs extending through end portions of said opening and an intermediate portion connected to corresponding ends of the legs and disposed within the sheath and spaced from said spring strip, and a retaining member secured to the inner sheath wall and extending across the intermediate portion of the opening between said legs and engageable by the intermediate portion of the latch for limiting outward movement of the latch relative to the opening.

Wykotf Apr. 6, 1948 McQueary Mar. 5, 1957 

